


A Bloody Meeting in the Woods

by StickyGem636



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Horrortale (Undertale), F/M, Horrortale Papyrus (Undertale), Horrortale Sans (Undertale), Hunters & Hunting, Misogyny, Romance, and acts like one, reader has flaws guys, reader is an adult
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2020-09-10
Packaged: 2021-02-25 06:20:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 19,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21911377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StickyGem636/pseuds/StickyGem636
Summary: Living on a homestead was nice. You provided for yourself through hard work, and didn't rely on anybody else. Then your deer gets caught in a trap you didn't set. The neighbors kind of freak you out, but at least Papyrus is a great cook. Also why does Sans stare at you all the time?
Relationships: Sans (Undertale)/Reader
Comments: 92
Kudos: 529





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story got really far away from me. It was supposed to just be a small one shot but.... now its several pages and I'm not even done. Whoops. My bad.

The arrow was nocked and the string pulled taut. Your left arm was on the grip stretched out in front. While your right, the hand pulling the string, was touching your nose. Looking through the sight window you could see your target. 

An eight point buck had walked up to the feeder. You couldn’t believe your luck. Normally hunting consisted of catching small animals like rabbits. Rarely did you ever even see a deer in the woods. Let alone get an opportunity to bag one. If you froze some of him and then canned the rest you wouldn’t have to go hunting again for a long time. Between that and your chickens you could potentially feed yourself and your dogs for a year. All you had to do was let the arrow fly.

Breathing in once more you let go on the exhale. The arrow sped through the air and pierced both lungs. A near perfect shot. The deer took off, but it wouldn’t be long before it would fall to the ground. Tracking a deer running through the brush at full speed was much easier than a rabbit. Within only a few minutes you found where he had dropped. 

Moving some of the brush out of the way you saw the oddest thing. The deer didn’t stop on its own. Around its front leg was a bear trap. Luckily it died almost immediately after setting it off. You had no idea where the bear trap would have come from. You owned 64 acres of fenced in land. There’s no way you would have gotten off your property without having to hop a fence, and you never used bear traps. Especially not this far away from the house. It would take you too long to check them, and who knows how long an animal would have it wrapped around their body before you found it. 

Approaching the animal you went to pull the trap off it. Your recurve bow went into the sling on your back. Right before your hand could touch the trap though a loud,  _ very _ loud, voice stopped you. 

“I’LL HAVE TO ASK THAT YOU PLEASE DON’T DO THAT HUMAN.” Looking around it was hard to pinpoint where the voice was coming from. You knew it must belong to a monster though. Who else calls people human after all? 

The idea that it was a monster wasn’t comforting. They were dangerous and all in all unpleasant to deal with. Nobody could blame them though. With all the stuff they went through. Humans did the same thing under those kinds of circumstances. Knowing what they went through and that they were rather harmless now did not make most people feel better. 

Standing from your crouched position you turned to face where you thought the voice was coming from. There was a copse of trees to your right that was hard to see through. That was really the only place a monster could be standing that you wouldn’t see them. “Why not?” Your voice sounded strong to your ears, but who knew what he heard.

“BECAUSE THAT’S MY TRAP, AND I WOULD HATE TO HAVE A DISAGREEMENT.” They stepped out of the trees for the first time, and you were able to see who you were dealing with. They were a skeleton around eight feet tall. Long gangly arms, small eyeholes, and teeth that were an orthodontists nightmare. 

“Right,” you nodded. “Your trap. That’s fine. Although I am wondering how it got onto my property. I own all this land and I know its fenced in.” You tried to sound both calm and reasonable. You were so far in the woods it would take a long time to get back. Even longer with broken bones. 

“AH. YOU’RE THE HUMAN THAT OWNS THIS PART OF THE FOREST. IT’S NICE TO FINALLY MEET YOU. MY NAME IS PAPYRUS. MY BROTHER AND I BOUGHT THE PROPERTY NEXT DOOR. WE THOUGHT YOU WOULDN’T MIND US SETTING UP TRAPS SO CLOSE TO THE FENCE LINE. WE COULD TELL YOU DON’T COME HERE OFTEN, AND WE WANTED TO TRAP OUR OWN FOOD.” The explanation made sense, and if they weren’t using bear traps you probably wouldn’t mind. At the end of the day no harm had been done either, but that didn’t mean you felt comfortable with people roaming your land without you knowing. Especially if they’d be setting up traps you that your dogs could wander into. 

“I don’t mind you guys using the land near the fence, but you can’t set up traps. I have dogs and without knowing exactly where the traps are they or I could wander into them. I just can’t have that. It’s unsafe.” 

He seemed to think about your response for a moment. There wasn’t much he could do though. If you said no traps then there had to be no traps. 

“You could always set up traps on your side. Then just guide the animals over there. That way you could still get meat and nobody gets hurt.” 

“THAT IS CERTAINLY AN IDEA. ALTHOUGH THE POINT OF TRAPS IS TO CATCH SOMETHING WITHOUT HAVING TO CHASE AN ANIMAL DOWN. SPEAKING OF WHICH. IS THAT YOUR ARROW IN THE DEER?”

“Yeah. I shot it through and he took off. You trap caused it to collapse here.”

“I SEE. THEN THE MEAT IS YOURS I SUPPOSE. DISAPPOINTING. MY BROTHER AND I ARE GETTING TIRED OF SMALL GAME.” Well that’s a bit disconcerting. Hopefully nothing to worry about though. 

“I’m sorry. There are plenty of other whitetails out here though. You’ll catch one.” As you said this he started walking towards the fallen animal. Carefully removing the bear trap he hung it from his arm and turned to face you again.

“THERE YOU GO. I’LL MOVE THE REST OF THE TRAPS ONTO OUR SIDE. DON’T WORRY THERE AREN’T ANY MORE LEADING UP TO YOUR HOUSE.” The fact that he probably knew where your house was freaked you out a bit. It was in the center of your property and someone would have to walk or drive pretty far into your area to even see it in the distance. 

“Well that’s good to know then. I guess I’ll see you some other time. Take care!” Trying to get away from the unsettling conversation you quickly grabbed the deer and started dragging it away. When you were a few minutes away you turned around and saw him still standing there. Staring after you. Turning back around you started walking a bit faster. 

By the time you got back home you were tired and thoroughly unsettled. The thought of how close you or one of your dogs could have come to getting caught by a trap was a scary thought. Hopefully he would keep his word and move them back over the fence. By the time you were done with the deer carcass you had over 100 lbs of meat. You wrapped a third in paper and froze it, while the rest you put away to deal with tomorrow. 

  
  
  


The next morning you woke up before dawn, showered, dressed, fed your dogs, and ate breakfast before going out to work. You lived on a small homestead. Luckily you were only one person so you didn’t need that many plants or animals, but there was still always something to be done. Most leftover plants got canned for the winter, but some of the herbs you made into essential oils to sell at the farmers market. The money you made there paid the property taxes every year. If you weren’t preparing something you were doing upkeep on the property, tending the animals, or hunting to make sure there was enough meat for the winter.

Around noon you finished with the essential, everyday tasks and went to finish dealing with the deer meat. It took the rest of the day, but by the end you had more than enough to last you. Thinking maybe you should be neighbourly you loaded up the excess cans into a wagon for easy transport and headed onto the trail leading from your house to the property next door. It was a long walk, but it did give you plenty of time to think. Mainly about what needed to be done, but you also wondered if the skeleton from yesterday would be happy to see you again. He didn’t seem thrilled when you took the deer home.

By the time you walked up to a front door on a small one story house nerves had already set in. They had an old brass knocker on the door. You knocked with it three times then waited for an answer. It didn’t take long for the door to open. You expected to see the tall lanky skeleton from yesterday, but this skeleton was anything but. Around your height, and broad as hell this skeleton seemed like a whole different species. He had a large hole in the left part of his skull, a terrifying red eyelight underneath it, and what appeared to be a perpetual smile that was all teeth. You had never truly been scared by a monster before. Unnerved, unsettled,disconcerted sure, but never outright scared. Until today that is. Judging a book by its cover wasn’t something you normally did, but you couldn’t help it with this guy. He was, for lack of better words, fucking scary. 

He seemed to notice how he made you feel and his grin grew wider. “what’s wrong neighbour? skeleton got your tongue?” He seemed to be laughing at you, but at least his words snapped you back to attention.

“Uhm. Uh. No, sorry. I just came to offer you some of the deer I caught yesterday. Papyrus seemed disappointed when he realized I was the one who killed it.”

His smile fell a bit at your words. “we don’t need your handouts. if you’re feeling sorry you can just stop it. we don’t need your pity.” 

His words annoyed you. You were just trying to be nice and this jerk took it in a completely different direction. “Well excuse me for trying to be nice. I had more than I needed so I thought I would give it to you guys. I won’t make that mistake again.” Turning on your heel you started descending the steps when his voice stopped you. 

“wait. you’re right. shouldn't have assumed the worst. it's just you humans have this way of giving handouts to people you feel pity towards. gets pretty old after a while.”

You could understand that. When you meet new people and tell them how little you lived with they often thought it was because you couldn’t afford any other way. It could be aggravating. “I can understand that. It’s not what's happening right now, but I get it. Anyway do you want the meat?”

“won’t say no to some food. i guess you could say it's a bad habit of mine.” Did he just wink? How the hell is that possible? Freaking magic.

“Awesome. Well then we need to unload it from the wagon. I have to take it back home with me.”

“‘course. just set them on the porch and i’ll take them inside.” WIth that you unload all the meat and set it down next to his front door. By the time you’re done he hadn’t moved a muscle. Bone? Tendon? What's the correct phrase for a skeleton? “cool. thanks for the grub. you sure you won’t come wanting it back?”

“Nah, I got plenty to last a good while. There was a lot more deer than I really have need for. Besides even if I did need more I could go track one.”

“HUMAN! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?” The new voice startled you which the broad skeleton seemed to find funny. “SANS?” That must be his brothers name. Weird you two never made introductions. Thinking back on it you never told Papyrus your name either. Papyrus came up behind you and stopped next to his brother.

“yeah bro?”

“THERE'S A HUMAN ON OUR PORCH.”

“is there? i don't see them.”

“SANS I KNOW YOU DO.”

“oh this human.” He points to you “yeah i see ‘em.” Papyrus looks like he has no idea what he should do with his brother. To be fair you weren’t sure if you’d know either. 

“Hey Papyrus.” The little wave you give him was probably unnecessary, but you doubt he really cares. “I just had more meat then I’d be able to eat in a timely manner so I thought I’d bring the extras over here.” Apparently Papyrus hadn’t seen the cans by the door until you pointed them out. When you did his face lit up. Regardless of how Sans acted you’re happy you brought them over.

“WONDERFUL. I’LL HAVE TO MAKE YOU A MEAL OUT OF SOME AS THANKS. IN THE MEANTIME IS THERE ANYTHING WE CAN GIVE YOU AS REPAYMENT?”

“No I don’t need repayment. I didn’t bring this stuff over here for that, but if you have any extra heavy twine, cotton thread, or wax I’d appreciate some. I’m running low and not planning a trip into town for a few more weeks.” 

“WE HAVE ALL OF THOSE THINGS! STAY HERE AND I’LL GET SOME.” WIth that he ran into the house. Leaving you with the broad skeleton once again. It was an awkward silence. Suddenly his hand came up and hooked into the socket with no eyelight and tugged. You could hear bones scraping against bone and you had to wonder if he was seriously damaging himself. It wasn’t your place to say anything though so you kept quiet. 

After a few minutes of Sans staring at you while pulling on his socket Papyrus came back with a small basket of everything you’d asked for. “HERE YOU ARE HUMAN! ALL THE THINGS YOU ASKED FOR. IF YOU’D LIKE TO TRADE IN THE FUTURE PLEASE FEEL FREE TO COME BY!”

“yeah, no need for you to ghost us or anything. don’t mind trading some stuff for food after all.”

“Same to you guys. Ever want to trade just stop on by. Easier then going into town after all.” With that you turned around to start heading back home, happy that you might have a good relationship with your neighbors. Who knew it would become more.


	2. A Bloody Meeting in the Woods Ch. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my goodness. I don't have internet at my house so coming into work tonight and seeing all of the kudos made my night. Thank you so much to everybody who gave this story some. Was honestly not expecting that.

“HUMAN WOULD YOU LIKE TO STAY FOR DINNER?” Papyrus’ voice never ceases to amaze you. If a human spoke at that volume consistently they probably wouldn’t have a voice. 

After the initial meeting you had settled into a comfortable routine with your neighbors. If you were running low on something all you had to do was call them, and vice versa. Normally one of you would have the things the other wanted and could arrange to see each other, usually at their house, to make a swap. It’d been a few months at this point, and Papyrus invited you to stay for dinner every time. At first you said no because you couldn’t get what they used to eat out of your head. Once you became comfortable enough with them though you said no simply because there was too much to do at home. You always promised you’d stay in the winter. When the only plants growing were the ones in your small greenhouse.

“Sorry Papyrus. I need to go home and finish picking the okra. If you don’t get them pretty much the day they ripen they’ll become hard as a railroad spike.” There was always a feeling of guilt when he got that disappointed look on his face, but crops don’t go by your schedule. They go by their own, and if you don’t adjust the way you do things they’ll leave you behind with way too much to get done. 

“OF COURSE, I KNOW HOW MUCH NEEDS TO GET DONE. WINTER IS CLOSE AT HAND THOUGH SO SOON YOU’LL GET TO TASTE MY CULINARY PROWESS.” By the end of his sentence Papyrus has his hands on his hips, and a grin on his face that could rival his brothers sometimes. 

With the reminder of his brother going through your head you quickly look around. He’s always close by. Staring at you. You’re pretty sure its to freak you out, but who really knows with him? He seems to enjoy getting a rise out of you. Tugging on his eyesocket while staring at you behind Papyrus was one of his favorite things to do. The other was to show up out of nowhere on your walk back home and make some jokes about you ‘jumping out of your skin’. It was unnerving to say the least. Especially because he only does it where Papyrus can’t see it. 

Sans had also taken to calling you lamb. The nickname didn’t make you think of a cute baby sheep. Instead it made you think of the phrase ‘like a lamb to the slaughter’. Needless to say you didn’t enjoy talking to him. Or looking at him for that matter. 

When you don’t see him anywhere you voice the observation to Papyrus. “SANS IS OUT HUNTING RIGHT NOW. WE RAN OUT OF THE DEER MEAT YOU BROUGHT, AND HE WANTED MORE.” 

_ Oh good. He’s out in the forest somewhere with weapons. The forest I have to pass through to get home. Awesome.  _

Giving a slight head nod you tell Papyrus goodbye, and start the twenty minute walk back home. By the time you’re back on your own property you feel a bit better. Sans hadn’t popped up yet, and you figured he was to busy trying to get a deer. 

So when he suddenly popped up right next to you it took you by surprise. The scream that slipped out of your mouth was unladylike at best and shrill at most. That shit eating grin on his face only got wider though. Annoyance started flaring up in you at the sight. You had tried to be as civil as possible to him for his brother's sake, but it was starting to become too much. Before he could even open his mouth you were speaking.

“What the hell do you want?”

“well, is that anyway to greet a pal.” Sans didn’t appear ruffled by your sharp tone at all. If anything his smile got wider. Realizing anger wouldn’t get you anywhere you tried to calm your voice.

“We’re not friends Sans. We’ve never been friends. Please leave me alone now.”

“ah. well what am i supposed to tell paps? that you don’t want to be friends anymore?”

“Papyrus and I are friends. I will be civil with you if that's what you want, but I do not have any desire to progress the relationship further.” Sans’ smile seems to lower, and suddenly his eye lights go out as you say those words. It’s an uncomfortable expression, but you’re not backing down. He has been nothing but rude to you from day one. You don’t see any need to try and be anything more than pleasant in front of Papyrus. 

His eyelights come back up so fast you almost feel like you’d imagined them going out. “you know it might not be the smartest thing to tell me all of that. i mean you are out here in the middle of nowhere. the closest town is an hour away and the only other neighbour you have is a mile. i don’t know. if it were me i probably wouldn’t piss off the thing at your door that used to eat humans.” 

“Are you threatening me?”

“nope. just an observation.”

“Don’t try and bulshit me. I know a threat when one is given. Stay off my property or the trading stops. I’d hate to not see your brother again, but I’m not about to put up with such a clear scare tactic.” 

“heh. most people aren’t brave, or stupid, enough to make demands of me. you really want to keep going down that route?” 

“Yeah I do. Stay off my property, and leave me alone. Except in front of your brother. Do those two things, and he and I will continue to have a relationship. Which I think is important to you.” Apparently you hit the nail on the head because at the mention of Papyrus and your friendship ending has his smile disappearing completely. 

“you wouldn’t stop being friends with paps. you like him to much.”

“You’d be surprised. I’m not going to deal with someone mistreating me. I don’t have the time or the energy for that. Plus I know how much the friendship means to him, and therefore how much it means to you. Clearly he doesn’t really have friends and that upsets him. That just tears you up inside, isn't it? I imagine anything making him upset just bugs the hell out of you. Not being able to provide everything for him.” At this point you’re almost one hundred percent positive he’s about to strangle you. If looks could kill you’d be a pile of blood and bones on the ground. Luckily looks can’t kill. Hands could though, and he certainly looks like he wants to use his. You won’t back down though. It’s a game of dominance, and you refuse to let him win. If he wins he owns you. 

After a few minutes of staring each other down Sans reaches his hand up to tug at his eyesocket again. “fine. you win this time. i’ll leave you alone. the second you stop being on good terms with him, though i’m coming for you. just remember that.” With that he pops out of existence. Just disappears. 

“No wonder he's always able to get the drop on me. Asshole.”

It isn’t until you’re home putting up the things Papyrus had given you that you realize what happened. Threatening someone that could break you without even trying probably wasn’t the best idea, and using the friendship with Papyrus you had built up was kind of underhanded, but what else was there? Paps was the only thing that could stop Sans from coming after you. Clearly he wanted to scare you and, now, possibly hurt you. Maybe you should talk to Papyrus about it? You’re sure he would understand. 

You resolve to tell him the next time you can get him alone. Although Sans would probably be watching you even more closely. Most likely he would be there constantly now. Never leaving you alone with his brother again. Oh well, if you couldn’t get him alone you’d just tell him in front of Sans. Like hell you’d let his brother keep you from having an open and honest relationship. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took longer than I meant it too. Only a couple more chapters to go.

Turns out you were right about Sans no longer letting you be alone with his brother. A few weeks after your talk in the woods, and Sans was making sure he’d be there anytime you were as well. You waited a couple of weeks trying to see if that would change, but when it became obvious it wouldn't you resolved to tell Papyrus in front of Sans. Luckily it was winter now and your nights had become relatively free so you were able to accept Papyrus’ invitation to dinner. 

He had told you over the phone to dress nice. Luckily that didn’t take a lot of time to accomplish. You only had one nice outfit. Bought for a wedding a few years ago that didn’t end up happening, it had been in your wardrobe ever since. The tags still on it. Over the years you’d thought about using the fabric for other things, but you always talked yourself out of it. Good thing too. 

After getting dressed and feeding the dogs you started the twenty minute trek through the woods. Sans hadn’t bothered you again outside of their home. Sure he would still try to freak you out, but without him following you around it didn’t work quite as well. Part of you still felt like he was stalking you though. It was just a feeling you couldn’t shake. 

Papyrus threw open the door before you had even made it up the porch steps. He was wearing an orange turtleneck and black slacks. You weren’t quite sure how the fabric of the sweater didn’t stick to all of his bones, but you’re glad it doesn’t. It wouldn’t look half as good as it does that way. “HELLO HUMAN! I’M SO GLAD WE ARE FINALLY ABLE TO ‘BREAK BREAD TOGETHER’ AS THEY SAY.”

“I’m happy to Paps. I finally get to taste your spaghetti after all.” Walking into the house you noticed it was pretty bare. The living room you were in had a couch, two chairs, and a Tv on a stand. The walls were painted a surprisingly nice burgundy color, and even though the furnishings were spartan it seemed like a warm place to live. That’s probably Papyrus’ doing though. 

“YES OF COURSE. IF YOU’LL FOLLOW ME INTO THE DINING ROOM. I’VE ALREADY PREPARED THE MEAL. NORMALLY I WOULD WANT TO DO IT TOGETHER, BUT IT TOOK A FEW HOURS AND I DIDN’T THINK YOU’D HAVE TIME.” When you got to the dining room you saw that he’d already put the table together. Three place setting surrounding a large bowl of spaghetti, a little tray of bread, and a salad bowl. “SANS WILL BE DOWN IN A MINUTE. I TOLD HIM TO FIND THE MOST UNSTAINED SHIRT HE OWNS TO WEAR. I’M SURE IT WILL TAKE AWHILE. EVERYTHING HE OWNS IS STAINED ALMOST BEYOND RECOGNITION.”

Sans won’t be down for a minute? “Well this looks amazing Paps. I’m glad Sans will be a minute though. I need to talk to you about something that happened.” At that Papyrus turned his full attention on you. 

“REALLY? WHAT IS IT? I HOPE NOTHING BAD HAPPENED.”

“I guess it was kind of bad. Although mainly because I feel like I dragged you into it, and I shouldn't have done that. The other week as-”

“food smells good Paps.” Sans didn’t even let you finish your sentence when he popped into existence right beside you. Slinging an arm around your shoulder he kept talking. “doesn’t it look good lamb? Paps has been planning it for months now.” His hold on your shoulders got progressively tighter and by the time he was done talking you knew there'd be bruises across your back. You got the message, ‘don’t ruin this night for him’ loud and clear.

“THANK YOU SANS! IT’S GOOD TO SEE YOU’RE GETTING ALONG WITH THE HUMAN AS WELL. THEY WERE JUST ABOUT TO TELL ME SOMETHING OF IMPORTANCE.”

As much as you needed to tell Papyrus what had happened you supposed it could wait until after dinner. He had been looking forward to this for awhile now, and it almost seemed cruel to potentially ruin it. “We can talk about it after dinner. I think what’s more important right now is eating what you worked so hard on.”

“yeah paps. we can talk about whatever it is later.” You were fairly positive that when Sans said ‘later’ he really meant ‘never’. Won’t he be upset then, when you force it out into the air.

“EXCELLENT! THEN LET'S EAT!” Papyrus clapped his hands in front of him, spun on his heel, and walked back into the kitchen. When he came back into the dining room he was holding a pitcher of water. You waited until Papyrus sat down before sitting yourself. 

* * *

Dinner went smoothly and Papyrus seemed happy. Sans didn’t talk, but made sure to be turned in your direction the whole time. He wouldn’t look at you, but you knew he was enjoying the fact that every time you glanced over he was chewing with his mouth wide open. Papyrus ate with in much the same way. His mouth didn’t ever open as far, but he didn’t have any problems with talking while chewing. 

Conversation mainly revolved around crops and all the little things it takes to keep a homestead going. Papyrus lamented the fact that they didn’t have cable so he couldn’t watch Mettaton's new stuff. When Papyrus found out you’d already been living without cable and internet when the monsters came to the surface, and therefore had never even heard of Mettaton he was aghast. You had to promise him a movie night so he would stop rambling. 

You learned more about Papyrus tonight then you had in the few months you’d been interacting with him. He was nice. Perhaps a bit too emotional about everything for you, but just seemed to be who he was. 

When all the food was gone you helped Papyrus clear the table. Sans just sat in his chair watching the two of you head to the sink. Papyrus started washing the dishes while you rinsed them. 

“ALRIGHT HUMAN. WHAT WAS IT YOU WANTED TO TALK ABOUT?” The question caught you by surprise, but it probably shouldn’t have. All throughout dinner he had been glancing suspiciously at Sans. You were fairly certain he knew something had happened between the two of you. He just didn’t know what. 

“Right. About that. A few weeks ago when Sans was out-” That was when Sans popped up behind the two of you.

“it’s getting pretty dark out. don’t you think lamb should be getting home?” Of course Sans interrupted you. He was going to try and make it difficult to talk about this. You weren’t sure why though. Sans clearly wants Papyrus to have friends, and being friends means being honest about the things that happen. Especially when it involves them. 

Maybe it was the fact that you’d been living out in the middle of nowhere for years. Maybe you had become a bit too blunt. Keeping secrets took time and energy though, and you didn’t have much of either. If someone was going to be in your life then they had to be willing to deal with everything laid out on the table at all times. 

With those thoughts running through your head you turned around and fixed him with a look of your own. “Okay. This is not going to work.” The glare Sans leveled at you made your skin crawl. “If you want me as a part of your lives than you have to deal with talking. I don’t keep secrets from friends unless I feel I have too. Especially if the secret involves them in some capacity. So Sans either you let me talk, or I’m leaving.” 

Sans was just about to start talking again, but before he could Papyrus weighed in. “SANS PLEASE GO UPSTAIRS. I WANT TO HEAR WHAT THE HUMAN HAS TO SAY, AND I KNOW THAT IF YOU STAY HERE I WON’T GET TOO.” He had put the dish he was working on down. Papyrus’ hands were clenched on the edge of the sink, and his face was down turned. You weren’t able to see his expression, but the tone of his voice told you what he was feeling. 

Sans shot you a look that would haunt your dreams and vanished. “NOW SPEAK HUMAN. I ASSUME IT HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH MY BROTHER.” He still wouldn’t look at you, but at least his hands had unclenched.

“Uhm. Yeah. A few weeks ago when Sans was out hunting, I was walking back home, and he appeared in front of me. He’d been messing with me for awhile, and I guess I got a bit heated. I was definitely a bit harsh, but I do stand by what I said.” At the mention that you’d been harsh with Sans he looked at you. You couldn’t tell what he was thinking though. “I should probably apologise for the way I said things. Not the point of the story though.” You couldn’t look at him stare at you anymore. There was a spot on the wall behind him that suddenly became very interesting. “I told him to stop trying to scare me. I don’t know why he was doing it in the first place to be honest. Anyway, then he threatened me, and I told him that if he didn’t stop then I couldn’t be friends with you two anymore.” The sentence hung in the air. It hadn’t sounded as bad in your head as it did out loud, but at least it was out there. 

“YOU MEAN ME.” His words were spoken evenly. Like he didn’t know how he was supposed to be feeling yet. You were already feeling guilty about the fact that you’d definitely hurt his feelings, and him pointing out what you didn't want to say out loud stung.

“Yeah, I mean you. I guess I just felt too bad saying it. He was threatening me, and as much as I really enjoy talking with you I don’t want to feel unsafe anytime I leave my fence. I’m not really the type that could handle that. I’m sorry by the way. For dragging you into it. You really don’t have anything to do with us. I just didn’t think there was another way to get him to stop.” 

“THERE PROBABLY ISN’T. SANS ISN’T THE MOST ACCOMMODATING. I’M NOT MAD. IN FACT IT'S PROBABLY A GOOD THING IT GOT RESOLVED EARLY ON. INSTEAD OF BEING DRAGGED OUT FOR MONTHS. BY THEN IT WOULD PROBABLY HAVE RESULTED IN SOMETHING MUCH BIGGER AND HARDER TO HANDLE.” Papyrus’ tone was pleasant enough, but his expression was still unreadable. You had definitely hurt his feelings though.

“I’m still sorry. I know it must hurt to hear that, but I really am only trying to be open and honest. I want this friendship to work, and I’m not good at keeping secrets when I think they should be said. I’m more the ‘tell everyone everything and work through it from there’ kind of person.” Papyrus’ spine straightened at that, and he smoothed down his clothes. Still staring at you with a blank expression the whole time. 

“YOU’RE RIGHT. IT’S GOOD TO NOT KEEP SECRETS FROM FRIENDS. I’M GLAD YOU UNDERSTAND THAT.” Papyrus stepped up next to you and put his hand on your back, pushing forward. “IN THE INTEREST OF ‘BEING OPEN AND HONEST’ AS YOU PUT IT, I’M GOING TO HAVE TO TELL YOU IT MIGHT TAKE ME AWHILE TO PROCESS THIS NEW INFORMATION, AND SEE HOW I FEEL ABOUT IT. I WILL WORK THROUGH THIS PROBLEM ON MY OWN, AND ONCE I FIND A SOLUTION I THINK WILL TRULY WORK I’LL CONTACT YOU.” By the time he was done talking Papyrus had pushed you to the front door. You weren’t surprised he wanted you to leave, but it still hurt that you’d made him want you gone. Still it was their house. If they didn’t want you there then you’d leave.

“Okay. Take care Papyrus, and I really am sorry to have hurt your feelings.”

“GOODBYE HUMAN.” With that the door was closed and it was time to head home. Hopefully your chest would stop hurting so much after a good night's rest. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh no. Reader has hurt Paps' feelings. I hated having to write that.   
> Thank you for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has been finished for awhile. Just had to change the ending a small bit. 
> 
> Thank you to those of you who commented what you'd prefer. Most people want the happy ending for sure so that's what I'll do. This story will be end on a good note. For those of you who want the original version, when I find the time I'm going to write it out and post it on a different story. It will be linked here when I do.
> 
> Writing out a good ending is going to make this story longer though, so be prepared for that. Hope you enjoy the chapter!

Sans was sitting in his room, his left hand tugging at his eyesocket. He was livid. Who the fuck did they think they were? Papyrus telling him to go to his room was just insulting. Like he was a babybones who’d been caught sneaking sweets before dinner. The worst part though? Sans actually did. When Paps told him he wanted to be alone Sans just couldn’t tell him no. He should have. 

Now Paps was down there getting his feelings hurt because of some human. Admittedly a human who seemed to actually like Papyrus, but still. If they hurt Papyrus too much Sans was sure he’d kill them. Sans had already broken into their house to find out about them, and he knew they’d been cut off from the family. Plus living so far out, and having little to no interaction with the outside world meant they really didn’t have any friends. As long as he paid the property taxes on their house every year nobody would even notice they were gone. It would be simple really. 

The thought of killing them brought a smile to his face, but he knew he probably wouldn’t be able to do it. Papyrus liked them. Too much in fact, and there’s no way he wouldn’t forgive them. Even though they really don’t deserve it. 

Although if he’s being honest with himself. Sans did antagonize the human, and it’s not the worst thing in the world for Papyrus to have a friend that’s willing to be honest with him.  _ Maybe _ , and that's a big maybe, the human isn’t that bad. Maybe. As long as Sans stays away from them they’d probably never have another bad interaction with Papyrus. Of course, Sans doesn’t really want to stay away from them.

It’s something he can only really admit when he’s alone. The fact that he can tolerate, perhaps even  _ enjoy _ the company of a human. They were intelligent and didn’t take crap from anybody it seems. Even from a monster they knew had to have eaten humans in the underground. Sans could respect their tenacity if nothing else.

Whenever they come over to trade he’d listen in on their conversation with Paps. At first it was just to make sure they were treating him right, but once he realized they were fairly harmless he started to pay attention to what they were saying. It was nearly always something enjoyable. They hardly ever talked about themselves before moving out here, but from what they had said their life just hadn’t been what they wanted. 

A stressful job surrounded by people they didn’t even like, doing work they hated, and all for a crappy paycheck. They didn’t even have a family to go home to. They might be the only child their parents would admit to having, but that didn’t mean they were treated well. Sans could understand why they’d want to come out here and provide for themselves. Too many annoying things out in the world for them to deal with. He felt the same way. 

Sans could never tell them that though. He had learned most of the things he knew about them from breaking into their house. They didn’t even want him on their land let alone in their actual house. Not that Sans could blame them. He hadn’t exactly been neighbourly in the beginning. 

At first he just wanted to make them uncomfortable. There wasn’t much in the way of entertainment so far out, and he hated having to do actual work. Freaking them out had been fun. A way to pass the time. Eventually they got used to him though, and their reactions got markedly less funny. There weren’t very many ways he knew how to interact with people anymore though. Sans had two social settings at this point. Puns or scarey. So when scarey had stopped working he’d tried puns. 

Popping up next to them out of the blue probably hadn’t been the wisest choice, but he couldn’t help it. Seeing them jump in the air every time was just to funny. It seemed to be the only way he could get a rise out of them anymore. After awhile they grew tired of that too. Lamb seemed to think he was still trying to freak them out, and when they told him point blank to stop he can admit, to the unjudging white walls of his room, he  _ probably  _ hadn’t replied in the best way. 

It was an immediate reaction. Something learned in the harsh years of the underground. When someone snaps at you make them regret it. A threat said in a friendly manner usually got the message across that he expected them to back down. Sans should have assumed it wouldn’t work on Lamb though. They were far to no nonsense to deal with him, and that just made him madder. 

Why wouldn’t they just admit defeat? He was obviously stronger, faster, and had the added benefit of magic on his side. Lamb should have, metaphorically speaking, rolled over and presented him their stomach. Then Lamb wouldn’t be near as interesting though. It would be a shame to extinguish that spark that made them interesting, and for some reason he couldn’t explain, that would be upsetting to him.

They were one of the only things to entertain him, and turning them into a subservient creature would be a real shame. A small voice in the back of his head got a thrill from the thought, though not the kind he wanted to deal with. 

Sans was so caught up in his own brooding he didn’t notice Papyrus and Lamb had stopped talking until he heard a knock at his door. Sans knew it was serious because Papyrus almost never knocked. He would yell his name then barge in. Privacy hadn’t been an issue after the food ran out. They told each other everything and if one of them needed to see the other they were allowed to just burst in on them. So Paps knocking meant he wasn’t entirely sure if he  _ wanted _ to see Sans. 

Even Sans could tell his voice sounded smaller when he called out a small, “yeah?” It took a few minutes but eventually the door opened and Papyrus stuck his head in. When he saw Sans just sitting on his bed Papyrus came in fully and sat slowly down beside him. 

“I LIKE THE HUMAN.” Of course he did. Paps liked anyone who was nice to him. He had definitely been starved for friendship in the underground. Even before the famine people liked him but only the fish was really willing to be his friend.

“i know paps.”

“IF YOU KNOW THEN WHY THREATEN THEM?”

“don’t know. just seemed like fun at the time.”

Papyrus let out a long sigh at that, and Sans could feel the exhaustion coming from him. Paps loved Sans more than anything, but sometimes Sans could tell he wished his brother would be a little better at dealing with people. “IS IT FUN NOW?”

“not really.”

“SO WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO? I WANT TO KEEP THEM AS A FRIEND, BUT ONLY IF THE TWO OF YOU WILL GET ALONG.” 

“i can do that paps.”

“CAN YOU? IT’S LIKE THAT WAITRESS ALL OVER AGAIN.”

“the waitress just thought it made her look cool to befriend a monster.you know as well as i do that she didn’t actually care about you.”

“I KNOW THAT, BUT YOU COULD HAVE BEEN NICER ABOUT IT. WE ALMOST GOT ARRESTED FOR ASSAULT. IF I HADN’T BEEN THERE TO PULL YOU AWAY FROM HER YOU WOULD HAVE HURT HER.”

Sans remembered vividly. Papyrus had made friends with a waitress at their favorite restaurant, but she clearly just wanted to parade him around to her friends. Thought it made her look like she cared about monster rights. Truth was she didn’t and when he caught her admitting it over the phone he’d tried to wrap his hands around her neck. Nobody was allowed to take advantage of Paps.

“i guess. although i still think we could have gotten away with it.”

“NOT THE POINT OF THIS CONVERSATION. I ENJOY THE HUMANS COMPANY. YOU DON’T HAVE TOO, AND I WON’T TRY AND FORCE YOU TWO TO BE FRIENDS. I EXPECT YOU TO BE CIVIL WITH THEM THOUGH. AT LEAST OUT OF RESPECT FOR MY FEELINGS.” 

“i can do that.” 

“SHOULD I EVEN ASK WHY YOU DISLIKE THEM? OR IS THE ANSWER ‘JUST BECAUSE’?”

“you know me so well paps. i don’t dislike lamb actually. i just thought it was funny to mess with them, and now i don’t think they’ll ever see that.” There was a hint of disappointment in his voice, and as much as Sans hoped Papyrus didn’t pick up on it Sans knew he had. 

“WHY DON’T YOU JUST TELL THEM? THEY’RE NOT THAT HARD TO TALK TOO. THE HUMAN MIGHT TAKE AWHILE TO BELIEVE YOU, BUT I’M SURE THEY WOULD EVENTUALLY.”

“maybe i should paps. at the very least it might help the two of us get along when they come around.” Before the famine Sans never would have agreed to that. Avoiding a problem and hoping it goes away was his go to, but when the problem becomes no food, and friends and family turning on you to try and eat your dust, waiting for a problem to go away doesn’t work. Sans wonders if it could be considered personal growth and the thought makes him chuckle. 

“THANK YOU SANS. I KNOW IT CAN BE HARD FOR YOU TO DEAL WITH STUFF LIKE THAT, BUT IT MEANS A LOT TO ME THAT YOU WOULD.” 

“anything for you bro,” and Sans really meant it. Now he just had to figure out how to work through a problem with someone who isn't Paps. Should be easy right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes I feel like I need to get better at dragging out conflict, but I just want problems resolved when they come up. In my perfect world everybody would be capable of introspection and be able to admit their shortcomings.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay. Stuffs been going on in real life and I haven't had much time. Plus I found a Silmarillion fic that was over six hundred thousand words. 
> 
> Mainly a short dialogue-less chapter. Giving Lamb a bit more character and making them more of a person. This chap. was quickly scanned for typos and I'm fairly sure I missed some so sorry about that. 
> 
> By the way I wanted to go way dorkier with the animal names, like way dorkier, but my friend talked me out of it. She still thinks I went to dorky but I told her to fight me so she backed off.

The walk back home wasn’t fun. To say you were upset would be an understatement. It was hard to make lasting friendships when there wasn’t any time. Messing one up wasn’t high on your list of priorities. Papyrus was a sweetheart and making him upset stung, but it was better to have everything out in the open. At least that’s what you told yourself. 

The doubt in the back of your mind was an annoyance. You were sure it was caused by you not having faith in your people skills anymore. After all you’d been out of touch with everyone you knew for so long maybe you’d lost the ability to tell what was right or wrong in relationships. Maybe you were too concerned with what you wanted rather than what was best for Papyrus. 

It wasn’t like you wanted to fall so far out of practice. It was just hard to meet new people when you moved. Especially because they expected you to share stories about your family and old friends. When they realized you weren’t going to talk about any of that people normally assumed there was something wrong with you. In such a small town gossip is the currency, and the better the gossip the higher the value. After awhile people were coming up with all kinds of stories. Even ridiculous ones that they clearly got off of television. It’s not like it mattered though. Anything that would take people's minds off their own lives for a while was fair game. 

Eventually all of that settled down. A murder in town got the attention off you and it ended up staying that way. After a while people realized you just didn’t talk much. It was a hard couple of years, but now you can walk down the street and people will smile and nod at you. Not evaluate you as if they could figure something out just by the way you walked. 

You even became friendly with some. A woman by the name of Jean brought donuts whenever you were at the farmers market. She would sit on an up-turned apple crate next to you and share what had been going on in her life. She had three small boys and a husband that seemed to be married more for convenience rather than actual love. Most of her talks were complaints. Her husband was a respected member of the community and she didn’t feel comfortable telling anybody else about their problems. You, however, never judged or doubted her. She once told you that you were basically her best friend. 

The local pastor always came by as well. He’d try and convince you to join the congregation next saturday. Good naturedly of course. He knew you wouldn’t show up. Bill wasn’t sure if it was because you didn’t want to be around that many people or if you practiced some other religion. You never would tell him. Still he enjoyed the jokes and gentle ribbing you two shared. Plus it was a good way to not have to follow behind his wife for three hours while she haggled over every small thing. That woman might be frail but she could get fiesty if she thought a better deal could be made. 

Of course there was also Marcus. An eight-year-old boy who hid under your stall. Somehow the kids in town had decided you moved because of witness protection. Marcus was coerced by some bigger children to steal your ID so they could look up your information. You doubted they actually knew how to do that though. When you caught him he broke down in tears immediately. You had no idea what to do. Eventually you got him to tell you what happened. Apparently some kids had threatened to steal his phone and throw it in the river if he didn’t. Now he sat under your stall and you’d pass him apple slices as he played on his phone. 

Still you only really saw those people a few months out of the year, and none of them knew too much about you personally. Plus you didn’t have time to be around them when you weren’t selling stuff. Opening up and being vulnerable with someone wasn’t difficult for you. In fact you knew that was the biggest reason no relationship ever became more meaningful. It’s just that you didn’t think you could give them what they wanted. 

Friendship is great of course, but being by yourself is also just as good most of the time. Needing intimacy in any form had never really been something that applied to you. Even with romantic partners you’d always be fine if they didn’t text or call for a few days, and while it was nice talking to someone about what was happening in your life, it's always felt like it was more for their benefit. They always wanted to know what was going on with you. Even if you didn’t think it was important or needed to be talked about. Very rarely were they ever actually able to help out. You fixed whatever problems came at you without them.

  
Most people weren’t okay with that type of relationship. You weren’t surprised and didn’t begrudge them for it. People need different things in life to be happy, and if that kind of emotional set up didn’t turn them off your view of sex almost always did. It never interested you. Even during puberty it just wasn’t something that crossed your mind unless prompted. Sure you could have it and act like you loved every second of it for awhile, but eventually it’d get tiring and you’d stop. An ex had once asked what you actually thought of it after a fight. Having already been annoyed you didn’t sugarcoat it. “Sure an orgasms great, but it takes twenty minutes to get there, lasts 10 seconds, and in that time I could have cooked a meal, picked a row of cucumbers, or read a chapter of a book. It’s a time waster and you don’t really have enough to waste.” Needless to say the relationship had ended that night.

Still it had been nice talking to Papyrus. He was fine with you not talking about your past, and he didn’t expect you to go beyond what you were comfortable with. Just accepted you as you were. It was refreshing and you in no way wanted to mess that up, but at the same time you wanted the friendship to be real. Having a friend like Papyrus to be intimate with sounded like a great idea to you. Of course to have a real relationship with him you felt like you had to open up and be truthful to yourself. Otherwise what was the point? If you just kept things on a shallow level it wouldn’t be a real relationship. By the time your house came into view you’d come to the conclusion that you’d done the right thing for the friendship. Hopefully Paps and you could move on and get back on the same page. 

Walking into your house you were immediately assaulted by animals. Two dogs and a cat all wanted your attention. They followed you around the room as you got into some pajamas and picked up the house. It wasn’t ever very messy, but it definitely looked lived in. Right as you were about to sit down and give them some affection the dogs shot off and started barking at the door. A few seconds later you heard a knock and got up to check. Assuming it was Sans but hoping it was Papyrus you opened the door to be greeted by one red eyelight. 

“Wonderful. What’s up Sans?”

“ah...just wanted to come over and talk for a minute.” You leaned against the door and crossed your arms. Your two dogs, Elladan and Elrohir, stood behind you growling lowly at the skeleton. Even Ivar your cat had come out to see what was going on.

“What do you want to talk about then?”

“i wasn’t exactly the most welcoming bag of bones when we first met. not going to lie i just didn’t like you. after that it was mainly because i thought it was funny to see you startled. anyway paps really wants to be friends and i told him i’d try and make nice with the neighbours.”

“I’m not interested in a fake apology. We both know if Papyrus hadn’t gotten involved you would have kept on doing it and never felt bad.” 

“true i don’t feel bad. only reason i came was to make a peace offering and see if you’d like to start again. for paps.” Sans seemed sincere, but then again how would you know if a skeleton was lying?

“Fine. We can start again. What’s the peace offering?”

“a whole day to hang out with paps.” Sans seemed pleased with himself, but you weren’t quite getting how that was a peace offering. He must have seen your puzzled expression though because he elaborated. “a whole day to hang out with paps without me.”

“Sans you have yourself a deal.” Physical contact wasn’t something you would normally initiate but a handshake felt right in this scenario so you stuck your hand out. At first he just stared at it like he wasn’t sure what to do. Then the light in his dark eye flickered and he clasped your hand to give it a small shake. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you see any typos feel free to tell me so I can fix them. 
> 
> Also over 200 Kudos! Thank you to everyone who left some. It thrills me that people like this story. 
> 
> Thanks for reading as well as any comments or kudos!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long to get up life got bad then Covid happened and I work in health care. Anyway.  
> Trigger warnings for misogyny and racism. Basically people suck this chapter.  
> Also I know some people will think Lambs reactions are out of character but there’s a reason for them. I haven’t changed her personality all of a sudden.  
> This was written and uploaded using my phone so there’s probably mistakes.
> 
> oh shoot I also forgot to say I have nothing against religion. I belong to a religion. Won’t say what it is, but I do. The experiences Lamb describes are what I grew up with and in no way show what most religions/religious households are like.

It took a few weeks for Papyrus to call and want to see you again. Not that you blamed him of course. If he wanted to take a couple of months you would have understood. Gone crazy with worry, but also understood. 

You’d hurt his feelings, or at least that’s what you thought you’d done. Papyrus didn’t exactly give you any indication about what he was feeling when he asked you to leave, but you were fairly certain that’s what happened. Although if you were being honest you weren’t very confident in your ability to tell what other people were feeling anymore. Especially skeleton monsters who emote in completely different ways.

When he’d called you though he had sounded his usual exuberant self. You hoped that was a good thing. Surely it was a good thing right? You hadn’t felt this nervous to see a friend since you’d stolen a necklace from one in middle school. No idea why you’d done it. It had just looked nice. Still having to face a friend you’d wronged always made you feel queasy.

Papyrus told you that he had thought up something to do together. You should have seen it coming when he suggested a Mettaton marathon. It wasn’t something you were looking forward to, but he wanted to do it so you would. 

That wasn’t for a few more days however. He had stuff to get for it and you finally got around to booking a stall at the farmers market. It was something you’d been putting off for months now. You’d taken a long time to start selling there again, and you just knew everyone would be so curious as to why. Plus they probably already knew you were living next door to the skeletons and would undoubtedly have questions about them as well.

The week leading up to the trip was spent making sure everything was in order. The day of you wanted to be the first to arrive so you packed most everything you could into your little hatchback the night before and woke up far earlier than you had to, but it was worth it. Soon other people would show up to sell and then the customers would arrive. It would wind up being most of the town and being the first one to arrive gave you a few moments of peace to prepare yourself.

After you set everything up the waiting began. It wasn’t a long wait but it gave you time to see what everyone else was selling. Most of it was fruits and vegetables. A couple of herbal remedies here and there. Nobody else made oils though luckily. It was a long process and required a lot of the material you were getting the scent from. Most didn’t find it worth the time or the effort. That was okay though. Less competition for your products. 

Come nine o’clock the gates to the square opened up and the first customers came through. You were happy to see that there weren’t any surprises there. It was mainly the same people as always. Hopefully Jean would be coming in today. You hadn’t seen her in forever and you wondered how she was getting along.

She didn’t end up coming in until the market had been open for about an hour. When she saw you sitting there she rushed right over. “You’re back! I was starting to think you were gone for good this time.”

“Yeah right, and leave you to fend for yourself? How could I be so cruel,” it was said offhandedly but Jean knew you were messing with her. 

“Well excuse me missy, but it wasn’t I who up and disappeared for seven months,” her face stayed the same. It was the tone of voice that let you know she was hurt by your absence. It wasn’t like you were trying to hurt her. She had your phone number after all. Still. 

“Yeah I know. I’m sorry,” and you were. Even though you don’t understand why she didn’t just call you up. “I haven’t had the need to go into town lately, and you know me. Never one to waste gas or time if I don’t have too.”

“So seeing me is a waste of resources?” That kicked puppy face was hard to bear. You don’t really understand how it’s all your fault, but arguing would be tedious and you just don’t have the energy. So you give in.

“Of course not. I just have a lot of stuff to do. That’s all,” your voice had gotten tight towards the end but you doubted she picked up on it. Jean was nodding her head and opening her mouth to launch into the latest thing Mark had done to upset her before you were done talking. That was fine though.

Jean would be interrupted anytime someone came up to say the usual formalities. ‘Hi. How are you? Where have you been? So glad to see you back.’ Most people didn’t care one way or another if you never came back, but for some reason everyone felt the need to say it. 

That was definitely one thing you didn’t like about such a small town. The polite rituals everyone fills their day with just so nobody can say anything bad about them. It sounds and looks exhausting. You hate being in the middle of it, but, you have to admit, it certainly helps business.

You had almost sold out of everything after only a couple of hours. By noon you’d probably be back home or at the local diner. It was one of the only indulgences you gave yourself these days. 

A little blue building with local artists work on the side. The parking lot can only hold about six cars and the front entrance looks like it hasn’t been renovated since the 70s. Inside is great though. Black and white tile on the floor, an old-school counter where you can order a milkshake, and running across the top of the building is a model train track with a small train going around. There’s artwork by a local artist before he got famous of meadows, cityscapes, and dusky plains behind it.

The diner was run by an elderly couple and their daughter. You swore the husband cooked the best brisket in the state while the wife filled their pie rack, and their daughter gavegood, if not a tad bit slow, service. They prided themselves on being the diner where important local people did most of their business after all. Everything had to be good. 

It was while thinking about the pies that you saw him coming through the gates. How could you miss him after all? He stood at least two feet above everyone else. The sight of him made you sink back in your chair a bit. It’s not that you didn’t want to see him. It’s just that you didn’t want the town to start talking about you again. 

A shot of shame went through you at the thought. As much as you were okay with the skeleton you could see by the looks he was getting most everyone else wasn’t. Of course you wanted to stride right up to him and walk around the market with him just to show everyone else up, but you were a coward. 

People would talk. Or be rude and disrespectful to you again. That would in turn lead to your business being hurt. Which would lead to not being able to pay your taxes and who can afford to get on the IRS’ bad side after all? Flimsy excuses that made your insides ache. When the truth is you were letting fear of judgement make your decisions for you. 

It had always been like that. The fear of judgment. It probably started when you were born. A wrathful and angry God was always watching you, and if you didn’t follow one of his many rigid rules you were going straight to hell. No questions asked. No answers given. It was that fear of judgment, of eyes looking on your person and deeming you just not good enough that led to the reason you gave up on people in the first place.

And it was that fear that would keep you from being a friend now. 

Or maybe not. It seemed Papyrus was just going to the vegetable stands. He hadn’t even glanced in the direction you were in. Boxed between an Apple stand and one selling pickles. It could be that he wouldn’t even look in your direction. 

“I know we're supposed to play nice with them, but can’t we designate a place in the country for them to live. You know like a town all to their own so they don’t have to go mucking up our streets?” Jean's voice rang loud and clear next to you. A couple people looked over and nodded. Like what she said made perfect sense. 

You didn’t know Jean felt that way. Sure she could be a little cold hearted, but she’d never before shown racist tendencies. You weren’t quite sure what to do. A part of you wanted to jump up and tell her to keep her mouth shut. The majority of you just wanted to keep peace. How is it that you could stand up to a skeleton monster so easily but a human woman gave you so much trouble?

Actually you knew how. Keeping the peace has always been your priority. It was never until someone threatened that peace that you grew a backbone. Sans had threatened it. Jean just made you think twice about the people you might’ve called friends. 

“Wouldn’t that be taking away their right? Isn’t that what we did in World War 2? That was horrible after all,” that was always your tactic. Vague reasonings why someone was wrong. Never being accusatory. Just pointing out statements and facts to try and influence someone. Most people thought you too naive and ditzy to be doing much else so they never caught on. Just thought you were trying to wrap your head around something you hadn’t yet thought through. 

“Well I mean don’t put them in camps or anything. I don’t care if they have a whole city to themselves somewhere. I just don’t like the thought of those things living here. What if they decide to start eating humans again?” You were about to try and ask her how that would be enforced without taking away most of their rights when a male voice popped up to your right.

“Damn straight,” that voice grated on you everytime you heard it. A drifter named Hunter. He wasn’t someone you wanted on your side to say the least. From the look on Jean's face she was probably thinking the same thing. “Those freaks need to crawl back where they came from. Or better yet I don’t get why we didn’t just kill ‘em when they came crawling out the first time.” 

Jean looked like a deer caught in someone’s high beams. “Well I don’t think anybody needs to die. I mean so long as they don’t start posing a threat to people.” Her voice by the end was almost a whisper. Clearly not wanting to argue with Hunter, but not wanting to give up her ideas either.

“You’re just being a pussy and you know it Jeanie. Until you women learn how to stop thinking with your feelings none of ya will ever be fit to do anything more than women’s work. That’s why they call it that, you know?” 

Neither Jean or you could come up with a suitable response that would also be appropriate given how many ears there were around. The two of you just stared at him for a few minutes until he scoffed and walked off. Hopefully to jump off a bridge but you doubted he’d be that kind.

“Ignore him girls. Men like that give the rest of us a bad name,” it was the low timbre of Bill. A tall rotund man with a face that always seemed to be smiling. There weren’t many church folk you trusted but he and his wife fell into that category neatly. 

Jean was the first to reply. Relieved that someone was there to tell her that she wasn’t crazy. That Hunter was as much of an ass as she thought he was. “Thank you Pastor. I don’t know why he’s so rude all the time.”

“Either too few beatings or too many I’m sure. Sometimes I can’t tell if the world has just been too harsh on that man or if it hasn’t been harsh enough.”

You weren’t sure you agreed with that, but contradicting the pastor was something you just don’t do. He wouldn’t get offended or anything. It was the people around him who would look at you like you’d thrown a baby off a roof. For now you figure the best course of action would be to keep your mouth shut. This honestly wasn’t the light conversation you normally partook in on market days. 

“Why don’t we save all the heavy talk for another time? After all I haven’t seen you guys in forever,” if your voice sounded a bit pleading nobody pointed it out. 

It wasn’t until that loud voice called out that you realized you’d been silent for so long. Trying not to get caught there. 

“HUMAN! I DIDN’T KNOW YOU’D BE HERE TODAY. I WOULD HAVE COME EARLIER AND HELPED YOU SET UP. IT’S ALWAYS NICE FOR FRIENDS TO HELP EACH OTHER. WHAT ARE YOU SELLING?”

If Papyrus noticed all the looks you two were getting he didn’t say anything, but you felt them. Most people were looking at you two with disgust, but Jean was looking like you’d betrayed her. Like you being friends with a monster had somehow damaged her life. Bill just looked at you quizzically. Like he couldn’t figure out whether to be supportive or tell you how wrong you were being.

Papyrus just looked at you. Never taking his eyes off. Clearly waiting for a response you weren’t ready to give. How could you after all? There wasn’t an ear around that wasn’t tuned in eagerly to see what you’d do. 

You were such a coward sometimes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry to anyone who was waiting for this story and to those of you who came back thank you. I can’t promise it won’t happen again. There’s a lot of stuff both mentally and physically going on, but I’ll try my best.  
> Thank you especially to those who have commented nice things. If it weren’t for you guys I probably would have abandoned the story. Not that I don’t like writing it. I do. It’s just that I wouldn’t have felt there was a point after so long a hiatus.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a rough time with this chapter. I knew where it was going from the beginning, but it was difficult to piece together. Plus the only way I’m comfortable writing about bad life experiences is if I’ve had them. So that hasn’t been fun, but it was weirdly cathartic? Anyway I’ve written and rewritten parts so many times. If I don’t post it at its current state I’ll probably change it completely and go for a much easier, fluffier, way forward. Which is not what I want the story to be. 
> 
> I think I need to put a trigger warning. Abuse mentioned and Lamb has unhealthy coping mechanisms. 
> 
> If there’s typos I’m sorry. I tried to look for them, but I’m sure I missed some.

You didn’t know what to say. There’s no way he didn’t notice your pause. Didn’t notice the way you just stared at him. Didn’t notice the glares he and you were receiving from the woman sitting next to you. What was there to say at this point?

You could feel anxiety creeping into your throat. Choking you. Making it hard to breathe, to see, to so much as have a thought. If you were friendly with Paps it meant alienating and ostracizing yourself from the town again. If you didn’t though, pretended like you didn’t know him, how could the two of you come back? Be friends going forwards? How would he ever forgive you?

That’s not even to say what Sans would do to you.

Before you could have a full anxiety attack though Bill was kind enough to step in. Bill stepped up close to Papyrus and held his hand out for a handshake. “Hi there. How are you this fine Saturday?”

Papyrus didn’t even miss a beat. He grabbed his hand and enthusiastically shook it up and down. You were a bit surprised Bill's hand was still attached. “I’M DOING VERY WELL PASTOR,” admittedly you were a bit surprised Paps knew to call him that, “HOW ARE YOU DOING?”

Bill had such an easy going smile on his face. It looked like he really was fine with monsters. You hoped at least. “Oh I’m doing just fine. Farmers markets always put me into a good mood after all. I hear you moved into the old McCart residence. How are you liking it?”

“MY BROTHER AND I LIKE IT VERY MUCH. IT'S VERY HOMEY AS YOU HUMANS SAY. PLUS LAMB IS OHR NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOR, AND SHE'S VERY FUN TO LIVE NEXT TOO.”

“Lamb?” Bill looked lost for about a minute before turning to you with an eyebrow quirked in curiosity.  
“Ah I see. What an interesting nickname. How did you come up with it?” The mirth in his voice was doing a good job of cutting through your anxiety with embarrassment. He was laughing at you. Perfect.

“MY BROTHER CAME UP WITH IT. I’M SURE HE MEANT IT AS A JOKE TO CAUSE EMBARRASSMENT, BUT I LIKE IT. IT FEELS FITTING.” Oh if the earth would swallow you up right now you would never ask for anything ever again. Jean looked at you with a look of disbelief. 

“You’re friends with two monsters? What the hell?” Then she stood up and kicked the upturned Apple crate. It tumbled under the stand and all you could do was stare at it for a moment. At least then you wouldn’t have to look at her. “That’s like betraying your humanity. They ate people for God’s sake,” her voice was so loud it was bordering on shrill. Definitely loud enough to draw most of the market's attention.

“Yeah, true, but they don’t anymore,” the voice coming out of you didn’t feel like yours at all. It was small, mousy, like a child that got caught sneaking something out of the kitchen before dinner. The annoyance you felt fueling your interaction with Sans wasn’t there. A new emotion was rising though. Indignation.

“How do we know that? People go missing all over the country every day. How can we be sure it’s not them?”

“I DON'T WANT TO BE RUDE HUMAN, BUT ISN'T CANNIBAL A TERM YOUR SPECIES COINED? TO DESCRIBE A HUMAN WHO EATS OTHER HUMANS?” 

“I wasn’t talking to you freak,” Jeans tight lipped insult was a bit much for you. Abruptly standing up you started putting what little remained of your stall into a box. Jeans mouth was open and small noises of disbelief were coming out. Like she couldn’t imagine a world where you didn’t agree with her about something. Finally she seemed to get her head wrapped around what was happening. “Where are you going?”

“Home,” your voice came out curt and clearly annoyed. 

“Why are you leaving?”

“Because I don’t want to get into a fight in the middle of town.”

“Why would you be fighting?” The look you threw her way stalked her in her tracks for a moment, but then she took a step forward. Ready to follow you and demand some kind of explanation that suited her.

“Papyrus has been nothing but kind to me, and you are being ugly just for the sake of it. There’s no need for any of the things coming out of your mouth. If you don’t like monsters fine. I can’t force anybody to like anybody else, but every sentient being deserves at least a modicum of respect. Something I thought you of all people would understand.” It was a low blow to talk about her husband, but you were upset. Later you’d regret it and apologize, but right then you couldn’t have cared less. 

When everything was packed you walked away with your head held high. Not willing to show any weakness you didn’t meet the eyes of anybody you passed by. Just kept moving forward. You could hear Bill talking to Jean and you were pretty sure Papyrus was following you, but there was no way you would turn around to check.

When you got back to your tiny car you had calmed down, but were still not ready to turn around. You opened the trunk of your hatchback and carefully put the box in between some pillows. They were always in there so that when you transported glass none of it would break.

You didn’t turn around until Papyrus cleared his (nonexistent?) throat. Apprehension weighed on your mind when you turned around. Fear about what he would say and do made the turn tense. 

Luckily he didn’t look upset. His face held a pensive expression but there didn’t appear to be any anger. Although it would be hard for you to say for sure. Skeletons emoted so differently and you’ve yet to actually see Papyrus be angry.

“WOULD YOU LIKE TO COME OVER EARLY?” The question definitely caught you off guard, but it was a nice surprise.

“Sure Paps,” you were going to leave it at that and talk to him later, but part of you wanted to know if he was upset sooner rather than later. It was with a great deal of hesitance that you asked, “you’re not upset with me?”

He appears pensive. As if he isn’t sure what exactly he should say. Eventually it seems he decides to just go for it. “NO. PERHAPS I SHOULD BE, BUT HONESTLY I DON'T EXPECT THAT MUCH FROM HUMANS. MOST PEOPLE SEEM TOO AFRAID TO SPEAK UP MOST OF THE TIME. ESPECIALLY HUMANS AS YOUNG AS YOU.” He must’ve seen your confused look. After all you were in your mid twenties and doing really well by today’s standards. 

“BY HUMAN STANDARDS YOU'RE AN ADULT AND VERY MUCH MATURE, BUT AT THE SAME TIME YOU'RE ONLY IN YOUR TWENTIES. STILL FIGURING OUT HOW SOCIETY AS A WHOLE WORKS AND FINDING YOUR PLACE AMONGST IT. BEING OSTRACIZED IS A FEAR MOST HUMANS FACE, BUT I'M SURE IT'S MUCH WORSE WHEN YOU'VE ONLY JUST STARTED TO GET A BEARING ON LIFE.” He pauses and takes a moment to contemplate his next words. To make sure what he says is correct. “SO TAKING ALL THAT INTO ACCOUNT, NO I'M NOT UPSET. PERHAPS DISAPPOINTED IS A BETTER WORD. I WOULD HAVE HOPED YOU WERE BETTER THAN THAT, BUT I CAN RESET MY EXPECTATIONS.”

It was definitely a punch in the gut. You almost wish he was mad at you. You wanted him to yell, throw things, hit you, anything besides this calm acceptance. 

It reminded you immensely of your father. The way he’d just stare at you. Like he couldn’t believe you had his DNA. Like you were a failure and would never be anything but. Like you weren’t worth the air you breathed. It always made you terrified. Far more terrified of his quiet facade then your mother who took her frustrations out in a much more verbal and physical way. No matter what you did or where you went you were always afraid of becoming your siblings in his eyes. 

A hand came up to rub at your chest and you could feel a sting in your eyes. Luckily Papyrus has turned away to load up his stuff in the trunk of your car. Guess you were driving the both of you. 

Pushing the tears aside, you went around to unlock the car. Getting into the driver's seat you took a few calming breaths. You couldn’t let yourself be upset. Emotions were wrong. They made people, especially women, irrational, and impeded people’s ability to think and make decisions. You absolutely hated the fact that you couldn’t get your father's voice out of your head. 

Rationally you knew women weren’t weak because of their emotions. 

Knew that feelings and emotions are valid.

Knew that he was wrong. Stuck in the past. Clinging to an idea that was being disproved every day. 

And yet when Papyrus climbed into the passenger seat, knees bent into his chest at an awkward angle, far too big to fit in your cramped car, the tears were gone. After all you can’t let emotions sway your thought process. 

They’d only bring you down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This time it was Lamb being hurt. Which is fine. I swear I will write nice stuff. I just have such a hard time getting to it. Stories that aren’t horror-esque confuse me if they aren’t one shots apparently.
> 
> That being said this story does have an ending. It’s had one since the last chapter. This won’t be a story that goes on forever. I just...have to get there. Somehow....one day...
> 
> Side note: I’ve been wondering if people would prefer longer chapters? I’ve been cutting them off around 1500-2000 words, but I always end up feeling like you guys would enjoy it more if they were longer.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in the same day? Madness.
> 
> I’m just excited for the next part of the story and the last chapter took so long I have several chapters finished. Plus I’m pretty proud of the next couple of chapters.

It was a quiet day. The wind whistles through the trees outside. The summer sun beat down on anything unfortunate enough to be in its way. It was a lazy day. A day where everyone smart stayed inside, and the few people out and about were wishing they were back home. 

Deep in the woods a trailer sat. Long abandoned it rested next to a large creek. A small, clearly handmade, bridge connected one side to the other. Ivy crawled up the sides of the building and where there was a window or hole the Ivy snakes its way inside. 

This was where Sans went most of his time. It was large, but it had kept together well, and most importantly nobody but Papyrus knew about it. It was a place to be alone for him. A place away from the prying and judgmental eyes of humans, and the frightened untrusting eyes of his fellow monsters. 

When he was the Butcher people wanted him around. They were afraid, sure, but they were thankful someone was bringing in food. Even if it was only small amounts it was still something. Now though? Now that the kid had freed monsters they just wanted him out of their sight. 

Sans supposed he was a terrifying reminder of what had gone on. The suffering and madness that had ensued once the food ran out. 

Perhaps it was a bit of shame as well. Maybe when they looked at him, at his horribly disfigured skull which he got while trying to negotiate for them, they were reminded of who they were in the underground. Once upon a time monsters had been made of better stuff. Kindness, forgiveness, actual love.

The rest of them could look in the mirror and still see remnants of that. Of who they were so long ago. They could pretend that they were still made of the good stuff. 

Not Paps and him though. No, not them. Everytime they looked in the mirror or at themselves they saw nothing but suffering. Nothing but what they had done. What they had to do to stay alive. Everyone else could pretend and go about their lives like nothing had happened, but not them. Just another thing put onto his shoulders. Another burden to bear. Something else to be ju-

The hard tug at his socket stopped his thoughts dead in their tracks. Sans knew there was a pun somewhere there, but it was too hard to wade through the murk that was his mind to find it. Little bits of dust floated down from his eye and landed on his jacket. He didn’t bother wiping it off. The jacket would never not be stained anyway.

When Sans finally pulled his fingers out of his socket he could no longer remember why he’d had them in there to begin with. Probably for the best anyway. Whatever it was must have been frustrating. 

Before the hole in his head Sans had a good memory. Hell he was the only one who could remember all those resets from when the human died. Stars there had been so many too. Especially when they fought the fish. 

Now trying to piece together cohesive thoughts for longer than a few minutes took a large amount of effort. Thoughts eluded him. They were there, always so close, but when he would try to grab one they’d slip off like they’d never been there to begin with. Over the years it got far too frustrating to try so hard all the time, and he gave up. Now he just let whatever thoughts he could get float through his mind freely.

Sometimes they were helpful, but other times they weren’t. 

Sans was sitting leaned up against a wall in what used to be someone’s living room. There was a half wall to his right that acted as the divider to the kitchen. The carpet was stained black and brown. Who knew what it’d originally been? Ugly floral wallpaper was barely clinging to the walls, and yet Sans noticed none of this. 

He was just sitting there not able to really think anything. No thoughts were able to make their way through the quagmire that was his skull, but that was fine with him. 

After all he could feel the hard pieces of wood under the carpet, the wall at his back, and the beetle crawling from the ugly wall onto his shoulder. He could feel the buzz of his magic, the texture of his pockets where his hands were, and most importantly he could feel the air filling his chest. Proving that he’d lived another day. 

For Paps.

There was no way he could leave this world while Papyrus was still in it. No matter what happened, or how low he got, Sans would never leave his brother. They’d been through too much together. Sans had raised him. Read him Fluffy Bunny so he’d fall asleep. Bandaged him up when he fell out of- something. Whatever it was Sans could remember the scrape and how Papyrus thought it would never heal. Could remember himself assuring Paps that ‘of course it would heal. No bones about it.’ 

Papyrus was too precious to him. Meant too much. Sans would die before he let anything befall his brother. A faint voice whispered he was wrong though. 

Lately though Sans has been feeling like Papyrus doesn’t need him as much. Which was true. He was no longer a babybones after all. But back in the underground they’d needed each other more. As much as the rest of Snowdin was kind and respected them it was out of fear and necessity. Not lingering feelings of friendship. 

Up top though Papyrus was able to go and do things that Sans simply wasn’t. Papyrus freaked people out but Sans’ veneer often had them running. He was too banged up to be any good out there. Too banged up to be any good for his brother now. 

Now Papyrus needed someone who could go out and do things with him. Someone who could go to the movies, or the park and just be. Just hang out and have fun. Without the worry or hassle of having someone like him around. 

Maybe that was why Sans wanted you and his brother to be friends. You could pick up where he couldn’t. Papyrus would remind him that he was an adult, and that he didn’t need someone looking out for him, but Sans couldn’t let go of that fear. The fear that if he just let Papyrus out into the world, his patient, kind, trusting brother, he wouldn’t be able to do anything if something happened. That something would just rip him apart without mercy or regret, and he would be left alone. 

Of course, Paps wasn’t as trusting or kind as he used to be. Maybe he would be fine. 

Sans would still feel better if you were there though. Maybe you couldn’t fight well, but that was okay. He could give you his phone number in case of emergencies. You would call and Sans would show up to deal with the problem. 

Problem was that you didn’t like him. Sans wasn’t an idiot after all. He knew how hard it would be to earn any kind of trust or good feelings from you, but he could try. After all if you got scared the first predilection you’d have would be to call the police. Not him. Sans needed you to trust him enough so he’d be your first call. 

Hopefully making that peace offering was a good start. After all you weren’t stupid either. You knew how much Papyrus meant to him, and how he wasn’t a fan of his brother getting chummy with a human. Surely you knew him offering to leave you and Paps alone was a big deal. 

It wouldn’t be enough sadly, but it was definitely a start. Next time you two hung out he’d be there, and maybe you and he could actually try and communicate. If he was friendly enough you’d trust him. That was how he got people to like him before after all. 

That was also with monsters who were naturally trusting though. Maybe it’d be harder with a human. They were so guarded after all. Each time they got hurt another wall built up and it was that much harder to get them to come out from behind it. 

Kind of like him if he thought about it. 

As soon as the thought came though it vanished, and he was left wondering what it was. After a second of deliberation Sans shrugged it off and went back to thinking about what he should do. 

Maybe he should go to the store and find a book of puns. No. He’d never remember them. 

A gift? Nah. You weren’t the type to enjoy impracticality.

Maybe…? Oh. Good idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sansy boy what are you up to? The next section of the story is significantly lighter. So that’s fun.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For some reason I’ve always had a hard time imaging Sans as super lazy and apathetic before Frisk fell down. I mean Sans raised Papyrus and he had to get that way somehow. Obviously I don’t actually know, but it’s my head cannon.

Papyrus knew he’d hurt your feelings. He’d turned away so you could put yourself together. It wasn’t his intention to hurt you of course, but he figured the straight forward truth was better than a sugar-coated lie, and what he said was true.

He put no faith in humans. Sure Liza saved them, but Frisk left. Plus when the famine started Sans had told him all about the resets. Sans no longer really remembers the ones where Frisk killed indiscriminately, but before his memory got too bad Sans had told him all about them. 

About watching everyone he knew die to the hands of some fucked-up version of his friend. How everyone went and hid. Too scared to come out of their homes. The look in the child’s eyes when they killed his friends, his brother, and himself. How torn up Sans was to know that no matter what he did Frisk would just reset till he gave up. 

Told him about the times Frisk killed Papyrus and no one else as well. Just because they could. Because they knew that it would kill Sans, but that they themselves would have no actual consequences. It was a long and painful conversation, but one that Papyrus was glad they’d had. 

It explained so much of his behavior. How depressed he’d become out of the blue one day. When the day before he’d been fine. Happy even. Eating fries and ketchup at Grillbys, catching up with the rabbit family down the way, and helping the dogs watch their pups. 

Sure Sans had always been guarded, but he’d never been the lazy apathetic thing he’d become after Frisk fell down. Sans doesn’t remember it himself, but he’d had fun in life. Been exuberant even. 

Then one day Papyrus woke up and Sans was a completely different monster. It was like someone had hit him it shook Papyrus so hard. For the longest time hed tried to get Sans to open up. To just talk. To give him literally any sign of the old Sans. 

Now Paps knew why that never happened. The resets changed Sans too much, and there was no going back to the way he used to be. Papyrus loved whatever iteration of his brother he had of course, but sometimes he missed the old one. The one who wore a real smile day in and out. That monster would never be back though, and it was all thanks to some human. 

Now Papyrus has a distrust for them in general. Sure you were more trustworthy than most, but you also had flaws. Flaws he would’ve over looked at one time, but he won’t now. Not ever again.

Still when Papyrus got in the front seat he could see he’d upset you more than expected. You hid it extremely well, and if he didn’t have so much practice with Sans he may never have noticed it. There was probably something else there. Some long felt pain that you hadn’t gotten over, but you didn’t offer it up and he didn’t ask. 

Instead he stared out the front window as you backed out of your parking space and got out onto the road. It was a 45 minute drive back to his house and he hoped it wasn’t spent in silence, but he felt like you should have the first say of things. So that you could decide how to proceed with the day. If you wanted to talk about it or if you wanted to breeze on by and act like he never hurt your feelings. 

“What kind of music do you listen to?” It seemed you were content to just ignore whatever you were feeling. A long time ago he’d try and do whatever he could to help you through it, but not anymore. 

“I LIKE JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING. THERE'S SO MANY DIFFERENT KINDS OF MUSIC IT'S HARD TO CHOOSE.” 

You chuckled at that and it made him smile. As much as he’s changed he’s still Papyrus after all. He likes seeing people happy. 

“Well then why don't I just put on the playlist I’ve been listening to recently?” You started pushing buttons on your steering wheel and eventually a country song came on. It wasn’t one he was familiar with and it sounded a bit older. When he voiced that thought out loud you chuckled again and explained. “Yeah it’s older. I think it came out in the late 60s. Maybe earlier, but definitely sixties. I like old songs of almost any genre and they’re scattered throughout this playlist.”

There wasn’t much talking after that. The song about some school and a mother morphed into an odd song about what he thinks is a goddess, and Papyrus knew that he’d never be able to pin your music tastes. You seemed content to let the music play and occasionally sang the lyrics under your breath. By the time the two of you got to his house you’d calmed down completely. 

You parked and popped the trunk open so he could get his stuff out. Your stuff was left to get to later. Luckily he hadn’t gotten much. Just the few vegetables and fruit he’d need to make dinner tonight. It wasn’t going to be anything fancy. He’d read that movie marathons are mainly a snack event anyway so he’d gone light on the actual food. His coffee table however had enough snacks to feed them for a week. He’d gone a bit overboard, but there were so many different things to choose from and he wasn’t sure what you’d like. 

When the two of you got into his house he went straight to the kitchen to put everything up and you went into the living room. It wasn’t long before he heard you comment on the sheer size of the snack pile. 

“Wow Paps. That’s an intimidating amount of snacks to be honest. Are we supposed to eat all of those tonight.” The trepidation in your tone made him nyeh softly, but he didn’t want to laugh too loud. Laughing at you so soon seemed a bit much after all. 

“NO. I JUST DIDN'T KNOW WHAT KIND YOU LIKED, SO I PICKED UP A WHOLE BUNCH.”

“That was really nice, but you didn’t have to go to all the trouble.”

“I KNOW I DIDN'T HAVE TO. I WANTED TO. IT'S OUR FIRST MOVIE MARATHON AND I WANT IT TO BE GOOD.” He came out of the kitchen and saw you sitting on the couch sorting the snacks into kinds. Salty, sweet, and straight up candy. Then you sorted them into smaller categories. Chocolates, chocolate with other things added, gummies, anything sour, and a pile of things that didn’t belong anywhere but were still candy. You started to sort those categories even further but he decided to put a stop to it. That would take awhile and was entirely unnecessary after all.

“SO WHICH MOVIE DO YOU WANT TO WATCH FIRST? I ONLY HAVE HIS OLDER STUFF. HIS NEWER STUFF ISN'T GOOD FOR RELAXING AFTER ALL.”

It looked like you were about to ask him to elaborate, but seemed to think better of it last minute. Good choice honestly. “I don’t know Paps. I don’t know anything about him so why don’t you pick first?” That suited him fine. He chose an old one based on Romeo and Juliet. 

It was about halfway through the movie when you spoke up again. You were clearly hesitant, and he had a feeling he knew what you wanted to talk about so he paused the movie. “I just wanted to say sorry. I should’ve stood up for you sooner, but you’re right. I am afraid of them. I shouldn’t be, but I am. Still you don’t deserve to be treated that way and I should’ve done something.”

“IF YOU'RE APOLOGIZING BECAUSE YOU THINK I'M UPSET I WASN'T LYING WHEN I SAID I WASN'T. IF YOU'RE APOLOGIZING BECAUSE YOU FEEL THE NEED TO GET IT OFF YOUR CHEST THAT'S FINE.” His reply clearly wasn’t what you were expecting, but it seemed to make you feel better anyway. 

“So does that mean we’re okay? I really do enjoy being your friend and don’t want that messed up.” Papyrus knew you were being sincere. Maybe he didn’t trust humans normally, but he thought he knew you pretty well by now. Sure he didn’t know your whole history, but he knew how you acted and when you were lying. 

Plus you were clearly lonely. Sure you liked being alone, but nothing likes being alone all the time. He doubted you’d want to give up what might have been the first real friendship you’d had in years. Come to think of it he didn’t either. 

“OF COURSE WERE OKAY. THE GREAT PAPYRUS WOULD NEVER LET SOMETHING SO SMALL RUIN AN OTHERWISE GREAT FRIENDSHIP,” then in a smaller voice that he hoped conveyed softness he said “Were Okay. We Were Before, And We Are Now.” It seemed to soothe whatever nerves you were still having and you turned back to the tv much more at peace than you were before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I’m going to edit the older chapters. I’m back on my meds and I think there’s a clear distinction between what I write while off them and what I’ve written while on them. Maybe not, but I feel there is.
> 
> Oh, and in case you’re wondering the songs were Harper Valley P.T.A. by Jeannie C. Riley written in ‘68 I’m pretty sure. Great song.  
> The other one is Umai by Shireen. Also a great song. Honestly my Spotify playlists are kind of like a grab bag of genres.
> 
> Anyway I hope you liked the chapter. Thank you to everyone who’s commented and left kudos! 
> 
> And as always thanks for reading!


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys’ comments make me very happy thank you for them. 
> 
> Honestly i can’t imagine a world where I’d enjoy a Mettaton movie. The short skits sure, but an actual full length movie? No. So sorry in advance if they’re your kind of movie. 
> 
> Also if you’ve never seen Imelda Staunton play Rose in Gypsy you’re missing out. She gets that manic energy down and her rendition of Everything’s Coming Up Roses is so good. Not everyone thinks that, but I definitely do.

By the time the first Mettaton movie was done Papyrus has eaten a quarter of the snacks. Where they’d gone and how he was packing away so much so quickly was a bit baffling to you. He seemed content though so who were you to judge?

Only a small bag of jolly ranchers was partially gone on your side of the couch. It was hard to sit through the movies without something in your mouth to keep you from talking. To say they were awful was putting it mildly. They were atrocious, and it was only made more evident by the fact that Mettaton played every character. Sure you knew there were times when overacting was necessary, but wasn’t that for large theatre productions? Like when Umbridge played the mom in Gypsy. Weren’t movies supposed to be subtler though? 

Papyrus seems happy though so every time something new came up you shoved a Jolly Rancher in your mouth. After all if Paps was happy then you were happy. 

It wasn’t until you had watched four Mettaton movies that you were seriously considering just walking out. Paps was enthralled by them so talking had been kept to a minimum, and only while he was changing out the VHS’. Of course you’d never actually walk out on Papyrus, but it was a nice thought. 

Eventually Papyrus got up to make dinner. He didn’t pause the movie and when you went to get up to help he insisted that ‘AS HIS GUEST YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO ENJOY METTATON AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE WHILE HERE’. Great. 

When he came back Paps has made a stir fry. You ate dinner and continued to watch the tv. By the time you two were done eating another movie had ended, and you could hear the heavy footsteps that signifies Sans walking up the porch steps. Seeing that as your opportunity to stop watching the robot you stood up when Sans opened the door. 

When he came into the living room he seemed surprised to see you up. He raised a brow(bone) at you and while Papyrus was turned looking at him you nodded your head towards the tv. When Sans saw what you two were watching he seemed to smile a bit. You weren’t sure what exactly he found amusing, but whatever it was you weren’t feeling the same way. 

“SANS. I THOUGHT YOU WEREN'T COMING HOME UNTIL LATER?”

“i was at first, but I ran out of things to do. plus it’s getting late and I figured Lamb would have to be getting back to take care of her animals pretty soon.” You actually didn’t need to necessarily. You’d left enough food and water that they’d be fine. Plus they were outside at the moment so they didn’t need to use the restroom, but you were willing to pretend. Seven straight hours of ham fisted overacting would do that to anyone. 

“Oh you’re right. I’m sorry Paps, but I really do need to be getting home,” luckily you were a phenomenal liar. A skill that had been honed since you were a small child. You weren’t the most proud of it, and stars know you would never admit it, but lying can be as easy as breathing. 

In fact for a long time it was so easy you’d lie about anything at any time. Just to see what you could get away with. It was a nasty habit, but it hadn’t been one you’d gotten caught for. Another skill you’d honed was reading people and being able to know the best way to act around them to get what you wanted. Air headed and young was normally what made everyone turn a blind eye when you messed up. 

It was always ‘that’s okay. You’re still learning.’ Or some iteration of that. 

That doesn’t mean you got off Scott free though. The lies made it impossible to have a relationship. You were always paranoid they’d figure you out, and because of all the lies it was impossible to just be yourself. Eventually it became too much, and the lying had to stop. A couple of years later and it was under control. You’d thought about going into therapy, but that costs money you were saving for other things. Besides you already figured you were a compulsive liar. No need for anyone else to tell you that. 

Still you had been very good with Sans and Papyrus. A lie hasn’t slipped past your lips once before now. It might have only been a white lie, but small things could lead to much bigger ones. Plus it was the longest you’d gone without lying to someone, and it wasn’t a streak you wanted to break. “Actually Paps that’s a lie. I made sure they were taken care of before I left this morning. I am just burned out on Mettaton and as much as I enjoy your company I’m not used to dealing so much with people and kind of want to go home.”

Papyrus didn’t seem to be expecting that, and Sans sure as hell wasnt, but neither one of them seemed upset. In fact a grin broke out on Paps’ face and Sans almost seemed impressed. “OF COURSE LAMB. I SHOULD HAVE EXPECTED THAT. FORGIVE ME FOR NOT THINKING ABOUT THAT.” 

Papyrus stood up and started escorting you to the front door. When you two got to where Sans was standing he put an arm out to stop you guys. “why don’t I take Lamb on home? i want to talk to them about something.” Papyrus seemed surprised that Sans was offering to walk you home, but he thought it was a great idea. A time where the two of you could bond or something like that. 

You weren’t as thrilled with the idea. 

That didn’t stop you from walking out the door behind Sans though. You decided not to say anything to Sans if he didn’t start a conversation. The two of you had only had one good interaction after all. Sans seemed content to just walk beside you all the way to your door. It wasn’t until you noticed a box on your porch that he spoke up. 

“got you something. well got is a strong word. found is more like it.” You definitely found this weird. A few weeks ago Sans would only come around to fuck with you and now he’s bringing gifts? This has to be a trick.

Still you had to see what was in it. Bracing yourself for the worst you walked up the steps of you porch and bent down to pick the box up. As soon as you picked the box up you heard a mewl and something sloshed around. Looking over at Sans you saw he hadn’t changed his expression, but he seemed proud of himself. You knelt and put the box back down so you could open the flaps on top. What was inside was both thrilling and worrying. 

It was a kitten. Probably only about 4 weeks old the kitten was white with grey spots. What was worrying was the fact that it appeared too young to go without its mother, looked underfed, definitely dehydrated, and wasn’t moving much at all. Besides lifting its head up to you it stayed curled up in the corner. There was a bowl of milk in there with them and you could tell it had spilled over and gotten them wet when you picked it up. 

You had so many questions, but before you could ask any of them you needed to get the cat some wet food. “Sans can you stay here for a minute while I go get the cat some food? Just make sure they don’t get up and try to run away.” They probably wouldn’t even be able too, but you didn’t want to risk it. You hurriedly went inside when Sans nodded. 

Your other cat was nowhere to be seen, but the moment you went for the food he’d show up. Still you grabbed a towel and some wet food as well as some flea medicine then went back outside. Sans was just staring into the box. His hands in his pockets. It almost looked like he couldn’t take his eyes off the little fur ball. 

“Thanks Sans I just needed to make sure they didn’t leave. Where did you even find them, and where is their mother?” You had taken the milk bowl out of the box and opened up the lid of the wet food. When you placed it directly in front of the kitten they craned their neck to get some of it, but otherwise still didn’t move. 

“I found ‘em around this old place, and the mom was eaten by a coyote. came just as he was eating the other ones. didn’t know what to do with this one, but i remember you saying you wanted another cat so I figured it was a good idea.” Sans just sat there and watched as you tried to dry the cat as much as possible before applying the flea medicine. You weren’t sure what was so interesting, but that was fine. After all you had no idea he even knew you wanted a cat so you were willing to file both things under ‘weird’ and move on. 

The kitten was too docile when you put the medicine on. In fact they were too docile in general, but you touching them definitely should’ve elicited reactions. The fact that the cat just laid there and ate was a tad bit scary, but they would probably be fine. “Okay well I’m glad you brought them when you did, but you know kittens can’t drink cows milk right? The milk they drink is mother’s or in this case would be KMR. It stands for kitten milk replacer, but they also need water. They’re severely dehydrated. How long have they been with you?”

You weren’t trying to lecture him or make him feel bad but he seemed a bit bashful. Honestly it was almost kind of cute. “since about noon. I didn’t know all that. thought people give cats milk ‘cause that’s what they need or something.” It was a hard thing not to laugh at him. 

“They’re not supposed to have milk actually. Cats like cream sometimes which is kind of like milk but different and they aren’t supposed to have it often.” It was so bizzare to you. A few weeks ago you couldn’t stand Sans and yet here you were trying to take care of a kitten he brought you. Weird. 

“well. anyway. it looks like you have it all taken care of.” He was slowly backing away from you and the kitten. “i’m just going to get out of here.” 

You picked up the box being careful not to move the kitten too much and smiled at him. “Thanks Sans. This was really nice. Didn’t know you had it in you.” 

He suddenly looked down at his feet as if they were the most interesting thing in the world. “heh, yeah well. there’s a lot you don’t know about me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My neighbor/guy I trade resources with brought me Sunny a couple months ago. She’s adorable and growing up very quickly. Her and Ivar get along great and I was looking for an excuse to put her in this story. 
> 
> Thanks for your comments and kudos once again! I love the comments I get!
> 
> As always thanks for reading!


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some day I'll write more than one chapter at a time and be able to update regularly, but today is not that day. Shorter chapter, but next one should be rather long.
> 
> Thank you for all the comments and kudos!

The sound of something metal hitting the floor woke you up for about the tenth time that night. When you got up and turned the light on you saw Sunny sitting on the floor in front of a metal spice tin. Considering they were held on the wall with magnets it was almost impressive that she managed to knock it down. Or it would be if she wasn’t keeping you up for the third week in a row. 

You loved Sunny. Truly you did, but in the excitement of getting her taken care of you’d forgotten what taking care of a kitten would entail. The second she got better Sunny started tearing through the house. Knocking over everything she could in the process of discovering everything your home had to offer. Luckily this was far from your first time taking care of a baby animal so anything breakable or that could hurt her had been put away. 

Still the problem was her keeping you up. The house you lived in was one of those tiny houses they made tv shows about. At 364 square feet anything that happened inside was heard in every corner of the room. Your bed was in a loft on top of the bathroom and a small nook that housed your computer and sewing machine. The only thing to block out noise was a small rail on the edge that you’d put some fabric on for privacy. Needless to say it really didn’t block out any noise. Everytime she knocked something down it woke you up.

It was getting to the point of anger. Of course it wasn’t fair to get mad at a baby for doing things that every baby did, but your sleep deprived brain didn’t care all that much. It just wanted whatever it was to let you sleep. Which is why when Sunny took off you did as well. 

Throwing some shoes on you left the house without even grabbing a jacket. A foolish mistake considering it was the middle of winter now. Cold wind hit you in the face the second you stepped foot outside. It was freezing cold and the ground was frozen solid. The metal chairs on your porch didn't look all that appealing either so you made your way to the barn. 

There wasn’t much to do there this time of year, but the walls would keep the wind off you and you could cuddle with your dogs in the hay. That should keep you warm enough. When you got to the barn door you could hear the two dogs inside waiting excitedly for you to open the door. You wanted to keep them inside the house of course, but one of the problems with having dogs to help hunt and keep pests and vermin away was when they saw something tiny, like say a kitten, they went after them, and because they were good at what they did Sunny wouldn’t survive them. So in the barn they stayed. 

There was a small alcove in the back corner where you’d put hay down and attached an electric heater to the wall. Between that and the dogs fur they were perfectly fine. Honestly they would have still been fine without the heater but it made you feel better about sequestering them in the barn. That small space was where you curled up. The hay was uncomfortable, far too scratchy for your lack of protection, but your body didn't care. Nestled in between the dogs and on that scratchy hay was where you spent the rest of the night. 

When you woke up it wasn't a pleasant experience. Your skin was itchy, the dogs had drooled on you, and your back was crying out from the awkward position you'd been in. Still you’d gotten more uninterrupted sleep than you'd had in weeks. Deciding it was time to get up for the day you woke the dogs up and jogged back to the house. Elrohir whined like crazy at the door till you brought them food. After that you fed the cats, fed yourself, showered, and headed out to do chores.

You were finishing things up in the greenhouse when Sans popped up out of nowhere. It made you jump about a foot, but there was a small part of you that was pleased to see him. A new development to be sure, but you two had been getting along recently so it wasn’t altogether unpleasant. Still no reason to make it easy on him. “Jesus Sans. You almost gave me a heart attack. What do you think you’re doing popping up out of nowhere?”

You must have amused him because there was definitely a hint of laughter in his reply. “whoops. didn’t know you'd be so jumpy.”

“I call absolute bs on that. You’ve done it far too many times to not know.”

“alright you caught me. just can't help it sometimes. ‘s’too much fun. anyway wanted to see how you were getting along with the cat, and paps wanted to know if you’d like to come over for dinner.” At the mention of Sunny you could feel the frustration coming back, and you couldn’t stop the groan coming out of your mouth if you'd tried. Doing chores and being out of the house had helped you forget about the problem for a while. 

“I forgot how annoying kittens can be if I’m being honest. Ivar is the laziest cat in existence. If I don't initiate play he wont move all day, and even then he only wants to play for about ten minutes. Unhealthy I know, but I can't force him. Sunny on the other hand can't sit still to save her life. She’s even been keeping me up all night the past few weeks. I mean I love her, but I’m so exhausted I slept in the barn last night.” Maybe the exposition dump wasn't necessary, but it felt good to complain and Sans didn’t interrupt. Just stared at you through the whole thing. 

It was a few minutes of him just staring before he talked again. When you first met him the long pauses had been unnerving, but Papyrus explained that his head injury slowed down his mental processes. You’d been wondering how he got it, but were too afraid to ask. Not only did you not want to offend them, but you had a feeling it wasn’t a pleasant story and sometimes not knowing something was better. Besides it had happened in the underground so you were positive it wasn’t some accidental fall. No, it was definitely done to him on purpose. 

“Well why don’t you crash on our couch for the night? Paps has always wanted to have a sleepover and we don’t have anywhere to be tomorrow so we wouldn’t wake you up.” His eyelights wouldn’t look at you. It was pretty obvious he wasn’t a fan of the idea really, but for whatever reason he was offering anyway. The fact that he seemed to be pushing for you to interact more with the brothers was odd in and of itself, but offering to let you stay under their roof? While they’d be asleep and probably the most vulnerable they ever are was weird. However beggars can’t be choosers and it took ten minutes to get all the hay out of your hair this morning, so you definitely consider yourself a beggar at the moment. 

The smile that lit up your face wasn’t an expression he’d ever seen before. Sure you smiled but they were small and always fell off your face so quickly. The warmth he felt in his soul at the look on your face was new, but not unpleasant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm debating whose POV I want to write the next chapter in. I have ideas for all three, but I'm only doing one. So the question is which would you prefer?
> 
> Also someone messaged me on tumblr and berated me(in a super polite way which was weird) for not putting my username or a link to it anywhere. Apparently they wanted to ask me something and just guessed my name was the same. Anyway I don't know how to embed links on this site but if that's something that interests you its StickyGem636. I don't really post on there about my writing. Mainly just repost stuff I find funny, but if you have a question or want me to write out a scenario or scene in someone else's POV or really anything else(I'm pretty calm) you can find me there. If that's not something that interests you that's fine too.
> 
> Anyway as always thank you for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


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